If elected, Taylor would become the first African-American woman to win the seat, and Van de Putte would become the first Latina mayor upon election.

In early voting, Van de Putte and Taylor led the pack of 14 mayoral candidates when early vote totals posted shortly after polls closed Saturday.

Van de Putte led early voting with more than 31 percent of the vote. Taylor was in second, with almost 29 percent.

Villarreal trailed in third with almost 25 percent of the early vote. Adkisson was in a distant fourth place, with about 10 percent of the early vote.

Early voting has traditionally encompassed 55 to 65 percent of the total vote, making it more difficult on Election Day for trailing candidates to overcome their opposition.

A June 13 runoff in the mayor’s race is a certainty.

The race for mayor began in earnest last summer when Julián Castro announced that he would leave the post to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in President Barack Obama’s Cabinet.

The day that news broke, Villarreal said he decided he would seek the seat. He has been campaigning ever since. Villarreal was the de facto frontrunner in the race until November, when Van de Putte, who’d just lost her bid to be lieutenant governor, declared her candidacy — despite earlier assertions that she had no intention of running for mayor.

Adkisson was the third contender to join the fray. He announced his bid in the final days of 2014. Before 8 p.m. Adkisson conceded.

Taylor, the final contender to enter, declared in mid-February that she wanted to be elected to the post. Her decision caused a stir because she had told her council colleagues last year, when they were deciding who to appoint to Castro’s unexpired term, that she would not seek the position in May.

That promise, which Councilman Ray Lopez refused to make, helped her win the appointment.